Misleading Info from Sellers

[Mike Hohnstein]

Glad to see you learned from the trip, I was in awe.

My first 'bird' trip was a lone traveler deal, sure am glad. The 'bird' was a hell pile, but the whole experience was very positive. Wouldn't have been if I had brought company.

MH

----- Original Message -----

From: "ryanpwright@gmail.com"

To: "WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com"

Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 12:32 AM

Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Misleading Info from Sellers

On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM, Pete Masterson <"aeonix1@mac.com"> wrote:
>
> Sounds like the real error was bringing along the wife and family.

I second that. Of course, had the seller not been a lying scumbag (I'm
being polite), Hoss's decision would have been fine.

I flew my wife, two kids and my dog all the way down to Texas for my
coach. Thankfully I was dealing with a reputable seller and the coach
was in excellent condition, exactly as described and we were all very
happy. It's a good thing, too: Imagine, for a moment, you get up at
five in the morning; spend several hours in the air, plus 13 hours
stuck in the Phoenix airport, with two children, a wife and a dog,
finally landing in DFW well after midnight. You call every hotel
imaginable and they're all full, since the tornado that delayed your
flight also delayed every other and now a whole barrage of aircraft
have landed at once and weary travelers have packed the hotels.

Finally, you find an available hotel but they don't allow pets. You
book the room anyway and sneak the dog in, since you don't exactly
have a choice in the matter. Oh, and the driver who takes you to the
hotel rips you off, $40 for a 15 minute ride. By the time you get
checked in, get the kids settled down, etc, it's 3 in the morning and
you're lucky to get 4 hours of sleep, then it's time to get up, find
some breakfast, and hook up with your ride.

Now imagine the coach is junk. Oh, and you spent $1,200 on one way
airfare. And your ride from the airport hotel was the guy selling the
coach and he's not taking you back to the airport after you argue with
him over the misrepresentation. So now you all get to figure a way
home.

Yeah, that's exactly my trip, except the "worst nightmare" last
paragraph didn't happen. The guy from Mr. Oliver's picked us up from
the hotel and everything was smooth as butter after that. We settled
into our new coach and finally were able to relax and enjoy the
experience and a huge thanks to Mr. Oliver's for their hospitality.
They turned the experience right around for us. I'll tell you what
though, the nightmare of that final paragraph was going through my
head non-stop from the time I made the offer until we saw the coach in
person. My wife was already just luke-warm on the whole idea to begin
with, and was ready to go home after the first couple of hours stuck
in Phoenix. If the last bit had come true she'd have never come along
on another - ever.

If I were to do this again, I'd definitely go down alone, then fly the
family down after I checked the coach out. Although all turned out
well, it could have been a disaster had we been dealing with someone
else. It also would have been infinitely easier to outfit the coach by
myself (we went to Costco and Kohls and a few other stores and loaded
up on bedding, towels, food, toiletries, etc for our two week journey
home). Also, the dog stays home next time, too. That was probably the
worst decision of the whole trip. It was hard on both him and us.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

[erniecarpet@...]

Michael, posts like yours make my day. Thank you for being a member.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Montana

---

It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money Finance.

[msksann]

Searching for a Wanderlodge usually requires nationwide travel. I made
4 trips before my Bird found me, each trip cost about $1000, with
airfare, car rental, hotel, and meals. I would have loved to travel a
few hundred miles to examine one. Even a wounded Bird is a learning
adventure.

My first trip was to look at an 84 PT with some interior fire damage,
I did know going in that it was a real long shot, and my lack of
important Bluebird knowledge really was appalling throughout my
searches. Still, I had fun in that trip to beautiful Tennessee.

I fought hard against even going to look at the Bird I eventually
bought, (February in Detroit), but I asked the owners family to email
me a hundred high-resolution digital pictures of every part, (inside
and out), looking for a reason not to travel, and they quickly, and
cheerfully, complied. The owner had passed away, so real information
was non-existent. Freezing my spoiled Southern California backside
off, I found a clearly cherished Bird sleeping in a huge,
well-equipped heated garage, (I wish I could have taken the garage
with me as part of the deal). Stored every winter with the heat
blasting, the family had an emotional attachment to this Bird, and
really were not trying hard to advertise it because they gave me lots
of time to think about it, and I returned on April Fool's Day (how
appropriate) to start my ownership.

To shorten this story, I did not make much progress in learning, and
repairing the many things Bluebird ownership requires until I
discovered Ernie's Forum. Quickly discovering every post was full of
Gold, (information); I started at the beginning of the forum postings
and have enjoyed the journey as I have continued to find out how much
I need to learn! Most of my time has been spent it the past, but now I
am trying to keep up in real-time. Not fair that work constantly
interferes with play, though.

My many, many belated thanks to Ernie, the Moderators, and to every
single person, past, present, and future, who has taken the time to
post, and educate, with this absolutely fantastic and necessary
Bluebird Owners Workbook. To the Bluebird Wannabees, do not give up;
do not lose heart, because your Wanderlodge is waiting out there for you!

Michael Kramer
86 PT-40 8V92
San Diego, CA

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
<MHOHNSTEIN@...> wrote:
>
> Glad to see you learned from the trip, I was in awe.
> My first 'bird' trip was a lone traveler deal, sure am glad. The
'bird' was a hell pile, but the whole experience was very positive.
Wouldn't have been if I had brought company.
> MH
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ryan Wright
> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 12:32 AM
> Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Misleading Info from Sellers
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM, Pete Masterson wrote:
> >
> > Sounds like the real error was bringing along the wife and family.
>
> I second that. Of course, had the seller not been a lying scumbag (I'm
> being polite), Hoss's decision would have been fine.
>
> I flew my wife, two kids and my dog all the way down to Texas for my
> coach. Thankfully I was dealing with a reputable seller and the coach
> was in excellent condition, exactly as described and we were all very
> happy. It's a good thing, too: Imagine, for a moment, you get up at
> five in the morning; spend several hours in the air, plus 13 hours
> stuck in the Phoenix airport, with two children, a wife and a dog,
> finally landing in DFW well after midnight. You call every hotel
> imaginable and they're all full, since the tornado that delayed your
> flight also delayed every other and now a whole barrage of aircraft
> have landed at once and weary travelers have packed the hotels.
>
> Finally, you find an available hotel but they don't allow pets. You
> book the room anyway and sneak the dog in, since you don't exactly
> have a choice in the matter. Oh, and the driver who takes you to the
> hotel rips you off, $40 for a 15 minute ride. By the time you get
> checked in, get the kids settled down, etc, it's 3 in the morning and
> you're lucky to get 4 hours of sleep, then it's time to get up, find
> some breakfast, and hook up with your ride.
>
> Now imagine the coach is junk. Oh, and you spent $1,200 on one way
> airfare. And your ride from the airport hotel was the guy selling the
> coach and he's not taking you back to the airport after you argue with
> him over the misrepresentation. So now you all get to figure a way
> home.
>
> Yeah, that's exactly my trip, except the "worst nightmare" last
> paragraph didn't happen. The guy from Mr. Oliver's picked us up from
> the hotel and everything was smooth as butter after that. We settled
> into our new coach and finally were able to relax and enjoy the
> experience and a huge thanks to Mr. Oliver's for their hospitality.
> They turned the experience right around for us. I'll tell you what
> though, the nightmare of that final paragraph was going through my
> head non-stop from the time I made the offer until we saw the coach in
> person. My wife was already just luke-warm on the whole idea to begin
> with, and was ready to go home after the first couple of hours stuck
> in Phoenix. If the last bit had come true she'd have never come along
> on another - ever.
>
> If I were to do this again, I'd definitely go down alone, then fly the
> family down after I checked the coach out. Although all turned out
> well, it could have been a disaster had we been dealing with someone
> else. It also would have been infinitely easier to outfit the coach by
> myself (we went to Costco and Kohls and a few other stores and loaded
> up on bedding, towels, food, toiletries, etc for our two week journey
> home). Also, the dog stays home next time, too. That was probably the
> worst decision of the whole trip. It was hard on both him and us.
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

[bubblerboy64]

The trick to all of this is really the mind set of the buyer. You can
enjoy the hunt or not. Have a positive attitude and laugh it off if
it's a bust. Lot's of good suggestions. Best one is to leave the wife
and kids out of it and look at a little road trip in the peace and
comfort of your car as a "plus" regardless of the out come. Keep in
mind too that once you make the purchase of an older motor home
regardless of how perfect you think it is there are still going to be
things that need attention. If you are easily frustrated you better
just go buy something new and even that will not be without
challenges. Some of the new ones are far from perfect I understand.
I flew out to look at a couple of them and in spite of finding some a
lot less then I expected it was a couple days out of Dodge and an
opportunity to see new country and meet interesting (for the lack of
better words) people. Sense that I don't feel badly for you? Its
part of the process of owning a BB and really I hate to tell you the
easiest part. It's a challenge. A little like what they tell me
about golf, you either like it or ya don't. I spend my free time
working to improve and repair the BB NOT playing golf. It is not,
will never be, smooth sailing. I think most of the owners on this
site will tell you that. For most of us it is worth it which is my
point. But that being said we are likely in the minority. Many would
hate having to fuss with an old motor coach. I must admit at times I
get a little tried of it but after a year I can say that it's been a
great learning experience and that the "big stuff" is pretty well
completed. Just a matter of how perfect I have to have it and that
is up to me. Make the best of it. Figure out what is fun for you as
an individual and make it so. If traveling is frustrating maybe golf
is a better game. A five hour drive in Florida right now sounds like
heaven to me.

John Heckman
central Pa
1973 FC





>
> Searching for a Wanderlodge usually requires nationwide travel. I
made
> 4 trips before my Bird found me, each trip cost about $1000, with
> airfare, car rental, hotel, and meals. I would have loved to travel
a
> few hundred miles to examine one. Even a wounded Bird is a learning
> adventure.
>
> My first trip was to look at an 84 PT with some interior fire
damage,
> I did know going in that it was a real long shot, and my lack of
> important Bluebird knowledge really was appalling throughout my
> searches. Still, I had fun in that trip to beautiful Tennessee.
>
> I fought hard against even going to look at the Bird I eventually
> bought, (February in Detroit), but I asked the owners family to
email
> me a hundred high-resolution digital pictures of every part, (inside
> and out), looking for a reason not to travel, and they quickly, and
> cheerfully, complied. The owner had passed away, so real information
> was non-existent. Freezing my spoiled Southern California backside
> off, I found a clearly cherished Bird sleeping in a huge,
> well-equipped heated garage, (I wish I could have taken the garage
> with me as part of the deal). Stored every winter with the heat
> blasting, the family had an emotional attachment to this Bird, and
> really were not trying hard to advertise it because they gave me
lots
> of time to think about it, and I returned on April Fool's Day (how
> appropriate) to start my ownership.
>
> To shorten this story, I did not make much progress in learning, and
> repairing the many things Bluebird ownership requires until I
> discovered Ernie's Forum. Quickly discovering every post was full of
> Gold, (information); I started at the beginning of the forum
postings
> and have enjoyed the journey as I have continued to find out how
much
> I need to learn! Most of my time has been spent it the past, but
now I
> am trying to keep up in real-time. Not fair that work constantly
> interferes with play, though.
>
> My many, many belated thanks to Ernie, the Moderators, and to every
> single person, past, present, and future, who has taken the time to
> post, and educate, with this absolutely fantastic and necessary
> Bluebird Owners Workbook. To the Bluebird Wannabees, do not give up;
> do not lose heart, because your Wanderlodge is waiting out there
for you!
>
> Michael Kramer
> 86 PT-40 8V92
> San Diego, CA
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
> <MHOHNSTEIN@> wrote:
> >
> > Glad to see you learned from the trip, I was in awe.
> > My first 'bird' trip was a lone traveler deal, sure am glad. The
> 'bird' was a hell pile, but the whole experience was very positive.
> Wouldn't have been if I had brought company.
> > MH
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Ryan Wright
> > To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 12:32 AM
> > Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Misleading Info from Sellers
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM, Pete Masterson wrote:
> > >
> > > Sounds like the real error was bringing along the wife and
family.
> >
> > I second that. Of course, had the seller not been a lying
scumbag (I'm
> > being polite), Hoss's decision would have been fine.
> >
> > I flew my wife, two kids and my dog all the way down to Texas
for my
> > coach. Thankfully I was dealing with a reputable seller and the
coach
> > was in excellent condition, exactly as described and we were
all very
> > happy. It's a good thing, too: Imagine, for a moment, you get
up at
> > five in the morning; spend several hours in the air, plus 13
hours
> > stuck in the Phoenix airport, with two children, a wife and a
dog,
> > finally landing in DFW well after midnight. You call every hotel
> > imaginable and they're all full, since the tornado that delayed
your
> > flight also delayed every other and now a whole barrage of
aircraft
> > have landed at once and weary travelers have packed the hotels.
> >
> > Finally, you find an available hotel but they don't allow pets.
You
> > book the room anyway and sneak the dog in, since you don't
exactly
> > have a choice in the matter. Oh, and the driver who takes you
to the
> > hotel rips you off, $40 for a 15 minute ride. By the time you
get
> > checked in, get the kids settled down, etc, it's 3 in the
morning and
> > you're lucky to get 4 hours of sleep, then it's time to get up,
find
> > some breakfast, and hook up with your ride.
> >
> > Now imagine the coach is junk. Oh, and you spent $1,200 on one
way
> > airfare. And your ride from the airport hotel was the guy
selling the
> > coach and he's not taking you back to the airport after you
argue with
> > him over the misrepresentation. So now you all get to figure a
way
> > home.
> >
> > Yeah, that's exactly my trip, except the "worst nightmare" last
> > paragraph didn't happen. The guy from Mr. Oliver's picked us up
from
> > the hotel and everything was smooth as butter after that. We
settled
> > into our new coach and finally were able to relax and enjoy the
> > experience and a huge thanks to Mr. Oliver's for their
hospitality.
> > They turned the experience right around for us. I'll tell you
what
> > though, the nightmare of that final paragraph was going through
my
> > head non-stop from the time I made the offer until we saw the
coach in
> > person. My wife was already just luke-warm on the whole idea to
begin
> > with, and was ready to go home after the first couple of hours
stuck
> > in Phoenix. If the last bit had come true she'd have never come
along
> > on another - ever.
> >
> > If I were to do this again, I'd definitely go down alone, then
fly the
> > family down after I checked the coach out. Although all turned
out
> > well, it could have been a disaster had we been dealing with
someone
> > else. It also would have been infinitely easier to outfit the
coach by
> > myself (we went to Costco and Kohls and a few other stores and
loaded
> > up on bedding, towels, food, toiletries, etc for our two week
journey
> > home). Also, the dog stays home next time, too. That was
probably the
> > worst decision of the whole trip. It was hard on both him and
us.
> >
> > -Ryan
> > '86 PT-40 8V92
> >
>

[ho5s]

Thanks to everyone that responded. Glad to hear mine was not a unique
experience, but rather quite common.

I have not mentioned the WL for some time, and I think that's a good
thing. I will wait until this summer, and then when the time is
right, I will try again.

But, this time it will be a solo initial scouting trip!!!

Thanks again,

HOSS

[pattypape]

Hoss,

Search the several forums, Vintage Birds, FMCA for BlueBird
Wanderlodge Rallies, This is where you will see the highest number
of Blue Bird models, There are also several informal rallies
depending on your location.. Wannabes are always welcome.
Try here for a small sample of Bird owners.

http://www.frappr.com/wanderlodge

Bill 88 FC Michigan


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "ho5s" wrote:
>
> Thanks to everyone that responded. Glad to hear mine was not a
unique
> experience, but rather quite common.
>
> I have not mentioned the WL for some time, and I think that's a good
> thing. I will wait until this summer, and then when the time is
> right, I will try again.
>
> But, this time it will be a solo initial scouting trip!!!
>
> Thanks again,
>
> HOSS
>